Witness
by Tadariada
Summary: *The Sequel of Spiral* Harry is a happy man, more or less. He's successful and has a loving girlfriend. Very few things taint this life he has created. The dreams that plaugue his head every night, his father, and the war with Voldemort. What happens
1. Midnight

A/N: This is the Sequel to my story SPIRAL and if you haven't read it yet, I suggest you do before reading this. But just incase you'd rather not; I will give you a brief summary of what happened in Spiral: __

_James Potter is alive. Voldemort didn't hit James with the killing curse, like he thought he did. He hit something in James's hand, and it only knocked James out. (If you want to know why James' image appeared out of Voldemort's wand read chapter 5 of Spiral) __After 15 years of avoiding the wizarding world, he decides to come out and teach at Hogwarts, with the alias of Gregory Krikor. Only Dumbledore knows the truth. Sirius finds out and then so does Harry, when he looks at the Marauder's map._

_Then, there's a few really fun chapters about Harry getting drunk and being suicidal that I really recommend you read because they are HILARIOUS! _

(By the way, Harry HATES James and always has, ever since the second they met, Harry didn't know why at first, but he has always hated him) _Through a twisted string of events, Harry and James are both captured by Voldemort. Voldemort let's James go after a while, and sends him home thinking that Harry is dead. So James tells everybody that Voldemort killed Harry. Harry is still alive, obviously, but Voldemort has brainwashed him. Harry becomes Voldemort's heir and kills Professor Snape and Hagrid, unwittingly. Then, at the biggest attack ever (at Hogwarts) Harry is captured by Dumbledore, James and Sirius. Dumbledore un-brain washes Harry. Harry and his father never grow close and the story closes on the train home from Hogwarts where Harry says basically that he never wants to see his father ever again.  _

~~*~~

Midnight. The mystical 'bewitching hour' or so the legend says. There is something about midnight that mystifies people. Nobody really knows why, but it's true. Maybe it's because of the silence, for it's always silent at midnight or maybe because of the way the moon looks at midnight- fully risen, lighting up the night the way no star could. Maybe because strange things always happen at midnight. Whatever the reason, midnight is always regarded as mysterious. 

Harry Potter, now 22, sat up in his sleep.  His eyes were wide open as he cried out into the night. "No!" He awoke then, blinking in the darkness. He groped blindly for his reading light switch and pushed it on. He stood up, now that he could see and made his way to his desk just outside the glass doors of the bedroom, grabbing his glasses as he passed the bed stand. He shook a bottle of ink and licked the tip of a quill before dipping it in. With his left hand he slid a piece of parchment into the center of the desk and began to write feverishly.

_Ron,_

_Sorry to bother you. I just had a very strange dream though. It was about_

Harry crumpled up the paper and threw it in the trash. He got out another piece and began writing again.

_            Sirius,_

_Sorry to bother you, but I just had one of those dreams. I just thought I'd check up on you I guess, because I have no idea what's going on right now. Whatever happened in the dream is starting to fade in my memory, but I do remember that you were in some sort of danger…or at least I think it was you_

Harry gave up. He crumpled this piece of paper up as well and threw it at the trash can. What was the use of warning Sirius about something Harry could barely remember from a dream? 

"Harry what are you doing?" Moaned a female voice. "Turn the light off…it's the middle of the night!"

"I'm sorry Gin…I just had a dream."

"Well I figured but… oh come on back to bed. Can't it wait until morning?"

"I suppose." Harry walked back into the bedroom and kissed Ginny's brow before getting comfortable again in the bed. 

~~* ~~

Sirius Black and James Potter walked slowly through the town of Hogsmeade, pausing every once in a while to look in a store. Their conversation drifted slowly from the daily news to work. 

James had quit working at Hogwarts years before, not being able to stand the constant bickering with his son. In fact, they hadn't spoken since Harry had blown him off at the train station. James had been offered his old job as an Auror, which he had readily accepted. He now worked with Sirius, just like old times. Sirius, of course, was still in Harry's life. They were friends as always, and even more now that Harry was grown up and not so immature. 

"Sirius, what have you heard about the new death eater?" James asked cautiously after a pause in the conversation. 

"New Death Eater?" Sirius asked, and looked up at his friend. 

"Yes, he's brand new. The department has already named him the most elusive death eater ever and he's only been with them for about a month, according to our sources. I cant believe you haven't heard about him."

"Well, I guess I heard something about a particularly bad death eater, but I didn't know he was so new."

"Yeah, they've nicknamed him Mr. Nobody, just because nothing points to who he is. He's never been seen without his mask off." 

"Well that's smart of him."

"Sirius!" James said loudly and punched him.

"It is." Sirius shrugged. "We'll never be able to track…hey, look at her!"

A blonde woman walked across the street, into the Hogshead Bar. James rolled his eyes. "Sirius, you've got a girlfriend, so stop looking at other women."

"Hey, I can do what I want." Sirius said. "And who are you to give me advice? You haven't had a date in almost 20 years!"

"But I was married."

"For 3 years." Sirius said and added meekly, "Not to be a fiend or anything."

"You are a fiend."  James snapped. "But, while we're on the topic, 3 years of marriage for me is 3 years longer than you can boast."

"If you're that talented with women, I dare you to go ask the first girl you see in that store on a date."

"What?" James cried.

"Are you chicken?" Sirius asked, poking him.

"No, of course not." James said and straitened his robes. "The first girl I see?"

"Right."

"Okay, I'll be back." James said and walked strait into the closest store. It was called 'Hot Rags' and had shelves full of incense, candles and some interesting looking robes that looked more like gowns from India. James pretended to be interested in the merchandise while he looked for any women. The store was entirely empty except for a young woman behind the counter. Something about her seemed vaguely familiar, even though he had never been in the store before. He licked his lips and went to the counter. 

"We close in five minutes, I'll be out then! Jesus, go wait in the car and stop bugging me! Honestly…"  Said the girl behind the counter the second James got close to her. She hadn't looked up from her magazine. James couldn't help but laugh. "Come on, if I get caught with you in here I'll get fired H-" She stopped suddenly. She had just looked up and was now blushing deeply. "Oh damn it. I'm so sorry about that…I thought you were somebody else."

"I figured." James said. He glanced outside at Sirius, who gave him a big smile and a thumbs-up. "And it's okay. This is pretty embarrassing." 

"What?" The woman said. "Why are you _embarrassed? I'm the one that mistook you for my-"_

"Okay, I'm going to get right down to it." James said. Now he had her attention. She looked up at him with big honey brown eyes. James swallowed. She was young, very young. She couldn't be more than 20.  This was wrong. "D you see my friend out there?" James motioned outside to Sirius.  She nodded, her eyes never leaving him. "Well he dared me to go into this store and ask the first woman I see out. And you're the only person besides me in here, so…"

"Well I actually have a boyfriend." She said, swallowing hard. "I'm sorry."

"God, don't be!" James said, slowly walking out of the store. Sirius clapped him on the back the second he stepped out of the threshold .

"How'd it go?" He asked, a glint in his eye.

"Fine." James said. "She has a boyfriend." 

"Oh that's too bad." Sirius said. "She sure was beautiful, what with that red hair all…"

"Sirius she's young enough to be your child!"

"But she isn't my child." Sirius pointed out. "And that still wouldn't take away the fact that she's beautiful."

"You're 42 years old!" James cried exasperatedly.

"Hey, you're the one to talk." Sirius said. "After all, you were the one that asked her out."

~~*~~

"HARRY?" Ginny ran through the door at 5:15. Harry looked up from his broom, which he was polishing. "Oh, Harry you wont _believe what happened to me at work today!"_

Harry stopped polishing completely. "What? Are you okay? What happened?"

Ginny sat down next to him. "Oh it's not a crisis of state, but it was pretty horrible. I got asked out today."

Harry arched an eyebrow. "By who?"

"Oh you'll never guess." Ginny said.

"Well is it somebody I know?" Harry asked.

"Yes, you definitely know him!" She had a look on her face.

"Was it that git Malfoy?" He asked at once.

"No, older." Ginny said. 

 "Older?" Harry said. "I have no idea. I don't really know anybody older than me really, except for your family and Sirius." Harry began thinking out loud. "It couldn't be Oliver because he just got married and it couldn't be Lee because he's dating Katie Bell and-"

"Harry this person is not your friend." Ginny said. "I told you you'd never guess."

"Okay, I know a lot of people who aren't my friends." Harry said. "Snape? Oh how gross. Tell me it's not Snape, Gin, please?"

"It's not Snape, but you're getting closer."

"I don't know!" Harry said. "Just tell me."

"All right, just promise not to track him down or anything."

"Like I'd do that." Harry rolled his eyes. "Come on, spit it out."

Ginny took a deep breath. "It was your- well, Professor…uh itwasyourfather."

"WHAT?!" Harry cried, leaping up. "My- you cant be serious?"

Ginny nodded.

"That's disgusting. You're like…half his age, at most!" Harry said, pacing. "How could he be so _st-?"_

"Sirius put him up to it!" Ginny said. "Sirius dared him to ask me out. It's not your dad's fault, really it isn't."

"Well that's still bad! I mean, they're kind of old, no offense to Sirius at all but…wouldn't Sirius have known about you?"

"Harry, nobody knows that we're together. Unless you told Sirius about us?"

"I didn't." Harry said. "But that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about _my father asking out a girl __half his age. I'm disgusted."_

"I shouldn't have told you." Ginny decided, sighing. "I knew you'd go crazy."

"I'm glad you told me." Harry said, sitting down again, taking her hands in his. "Really I am. But I still can't believe it. You said no, right?"

"Of course I did!"  Ginny cried.

Harry was just about to look relieved, when a knock came from the door. Ginny and Harry looked at each other. A small screen appeared out of nowhere and hovered in front of them. Hermione and Ron were standing outside the door. Harry nodded to the machine and it disappeared again. 

"Ah, I believe that's my cue to leave." Ginny said. "Call me when they're gone!" 

"All right." Harry said. They kissed and she disapparated. Harry opened the door.

"Hello Harry." Hermione said, smiling. "We just decided to drop in on you."

"I see that." Harry said. "Come on in." He led them too the couch and sat down. "So why did you decide to drop in?"

"Oh no reason." Hermione said. "Hey, who else is here?" 

"Huh?" Harry said. 

"We thought we heard talking." Hermione explained. 

"Oh!" Harry said, laughing. "You must have heard the radio or something…"

"Told you!" Ron said, poking Hermione in the shoulder. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Anyways Harry." She said, looking a bit business like. "I have a bit of a favor to ask of you."

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"Well, our flat is being searched by the Ministry tonight." Ron said. "You know…the ever lasting search for Voldemort. They're scouring our building because some idiot used some Black Magic three days ago."

"Ah, and you want to stay here for the night?" Harry said.

"Right." Hermione said. "Unless that's a problem or anything."

"Oh, not at all." Harry said. "I can't guarantee how clean the guest room is, but you're welcome too it."

"Perfect!" Hermione said. "Thanks Harry, you're a life saver. My parents don't have room for us and neither do Ron's so…"

"You're lucky I don't have a roommate then." Harry said, smirking slightly to himself. 

"Yes, lucky for us." Ron said. He waved his wand and two bags appeared in front of them. 

"Have you all eaten yet?" Harry asked. "Because I haven't."

Ron and Hermione glanced at each other. "Well, no we haven't. Are you willing to cook?"

"No." Harry said. "But I'm willing to order out. What do you think? Chinese?"

"Sounds good to me." Ron said, leaning back on the couch.

"Okay, I'll be right back then." Harry wandered into the kitchen and picked up the phone. He dialed the number where Ginny always stayed when other people came over. She picked up.

"Hi, is this Young's Recipes?" Harry asked. Ginny laughed in the background.

"Yes, it certainly is." She said. "I can come home already? That was fast!"

"Well I'd like the teriyaki chicken." Harry said. "And they're staying over all night. Something about the ministry searching apartments."

"Are you SERIOUS?" Ginny said. 

"Yeah, that's right." Harry said, not aware that Ron and Hermione were listening to every word he said. "And can I get some Pot Stickers as well?"

"Oh Chinese sounds so good right now." Ginny said. "So I guess I'll stay here all night then. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too." Harry said. He looked behind him and saw Ron and Hermione staring at him oddly. "So when can I expect the food to get here? Oh right, I'd like a poo poo platter too!" 

"Um…I'll order something in your name." Ginny said. "It should be there in like…3 minutes."

"Bye." Harry said.

"Bye." Ginny said and hung up the phone. 

"Food'll be here in like 3 minutes." Harry said, walking out into the living room again. "The lady on the other end said they were really busy for some reason." 

"Oh." Hermione said. "Do you order out a lot, Harry?"

"Well I'm a lousy cook, so yes." Harry lied. Ginny liked to cook, so they didn't really go out much. 

Later that night, Ron and Hermione lay awake in the guest bed. "Do you get the feeling Harry's hiding something from us?" Hermione said, after a long time of silence.

"Yeah." Ron said. "Like…the whole phone conversation. What was that?"

"I know, that's exactly what I was thinking." Hermione said. "But, what would he hide from us. Not a girlfriend, surely. Maybe he did have other plans before we showed up."

"That's probably it." Ron said, yawning. "Nice of him to break them, just for us."

~~* ~~

A/N: Sorry, this chapter has gone on long enough. I'm saving you all from redundancy by stopping it now! I had to set things up for the future plot, you see, that's why this was so boring. (And if the chapter was boring, I don't want to hear about it in your reviews thank you very much) About the paragraph at the beginning, you know… the one about midnight? The one that has nothing to do with anything, right? Wrong. It may not make sense now, but towards the end of the series you'll smack yourself on the forehead and go 'OH! I GET IT!' So don't question the great and powerful…well maybe not powerful…DON'T QUESTION ME! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it. Expect another chapter soon.

Love,

Tad


	2. Eyes

Eyes. They are the gateway to the soul, or so the legend says. If you look deep into somebody's eyes you can usually tell exactly what their thinking, how they feel, even what they're going to do next, if you get deep enough into them, that is.  But not all eyes are open to that sort of inquiry. If you look into somebody's eyes and see nothing, it can only mean one thing. That person is dead inside. 

Harry Potter, now 22, sat up in his sleep.  His eyes were wide open as he cried out into the night. "No!" He awoke then, blinking in the darkness. The dream he had had was very fresh in his mind, and he bounded out of bed as quickly as he could and began scribbling a letter to the first person who came to his mind.

_Hermione,_

_            I just had a dream and there is no doubt in my mind that it is real. Please keep this letter safe and show it to somebody at the Ministry, your boss perhaps. It could save the lives of hundreds._

_            I dreamed about a Death Eater meeting. It took place in a long oval room. All the death Eaters were sitting around a large rectangular table. At the front end sat Voldemort in a throne looking chair. There was a death eater on either side of him. One was Lucious Malfoy, but the other had a mask on and never said a word. I have no idea who he is, but he's important if he is sitting next to Voldemort. Anyway, Voldemort was telling the Death Eaters about a new attack plan—at Hogsmeade, next Wednesday at 2 o'clock. Hogsmeade is popular at that time of day, you know that as well as I do. Please get help. _

_Sincerely,_

_Harry_

Harry sealed the letter in an envelope and tied it to Hedwig's leg. "Take it to Hermione, wake  her up if you have too." Harry said quietly. "Bite her if she doesn't read it immediately, okay?"

Hedwig hooted and took off through an open window. Ginny rolled over to face Harry when he went back to the bed.

"Where did you go?" She mumbled, still mostly asleep.

"I was writing a letter to Hermione." Harry said, smoothing the curls away from her face.

"What an odd hour for writing…" She tailed off into a snore. Harry sighed and tried to fall asleep again, something he couldn't seem to do. The dream irked him. He had always had dreams like this, but none had ever been so vivid, not since his 6th year at school, when Voldemort had started to slowly fail. Why now did they seem so realistic?

~~*~~

Harry woke the next morning to gentile shaking. He slowly opened his eyes. A female face came blurrily into his line of vision. "Why c-can't I sleep?" He said and yawned.

"Harry Potter, you have a bit of explaining to do!" Came Hermione's voice. Harry jumped up into a sitting position, tugging the sheets around him. What was _Hermione doing in his bedroom? Then he remembered the letter. Glancing to the side, he saw that Ginny had left.  Sighing, he grabbed his glasses and shoved them on._

"Oh Hermione." Harry said groggily. "Sorry, I couldn't tell who you were…I thought you were the…cleaning lady or something."

"Harry!" Hermione cried, shaking the letter he had sent last night. "I woke up to Hedwig hooting in my ear three hours ago. I took the letter and read it and- what do you expect _me to do with kind of information?"_

"You work for the ministry, don't you?" Harry said, exasperatedly. "You're an _Auror aren't you? Tell the head of your department!"_

"It's not that easy!" Hermione said, rubbing her lips together. She looked very worried.

"Can we discuss this later?" Harry said. "I'm not dressed and- well…"

Hermione swallowed, glanced down at the sheets that Harry had pulled around himself and turned around, blushing madly.

"Oh. Yes. Of course." Hermione said in a small voice. "I didn't see-"

"Good." Harry said, cutting her off. "Keep your back turned please, whilst I get something on…what were you thinking of, just barging in like that? Really."

 "I'm sorry." Hermione said. "I waited as long as I could. I almost came strait over after reading the letter, but I thought you might be sleeping. Finally I couldn't take it, and here I am. Sorry if I frightened you. I guess you aren't used to seeing many women in your apartment in the early morning hours."

_You'd be surprised. "You'd be surprised." Harry said without realizing it, as he pulled a shirt and pants on. _

"What?" Hermione screeched, turning around.

"Just kidding, of course." Harry laughed, blushing now. "Anyways, back to business. You were the first person who came to mind Hermione. You can get it to somebody, cant you?"

"Well, everybody'll think I'm insane, but I probably can." Hermione said. "Or I'll try as hard as I can. You should send this sort of thing to Sirius. He's got a higher ranking than me."

"I told you, you were just the person who popped into my head."

"Maybe not even Sirius!" Hermione was in her own world, completely oblivious to Harry. "You could have sent it to James. He's friends with the Head Auror!"

"What did you just say?" Harry snapped.

"I said," Hermione said, looking at him, "You could have sent it to James, because he's friends with the Head. And when I said James, I did mean your father."

Harry made a noise in his throat and rolled his eyes. "Like I'd stoop so low." He said. 

"You're such a child." Hermione said, walking out of Harry's bedroom. Harry glared at her back  and followed.  She turned to face him when she reached the main door. "Really you are. When was the last time you talked to him?" 

"Six years, maybe longer." Harry said. "What does it matter? I don't need him and he doesn't need me."

"You're wrong Harry." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "I'll try to get this letter to somebody who can do something with it, really, I will. Keep in touch."

"Bye Hermione." Harry said. She waved with two fingers and disappeared. 

~~*~~

"We've got a lead." James told Sirius over lunch one day.

"Huh?" Sirius asked.

"Remember when I told you about Mr. Nobody?" James asked. "You know the new death eater?"

"Yes." Sirius said. 

"We have a lead on him." James said. "Some anonymous emissary saw a death eater meeting in a dream. And the dreams are true."

"How do they know?" Sirius said.

"Well remember that attack two weeks ago?" James said. Sirius nodded. "That person foretold it for us."

"Are you telling me that we have a fortune teller on our side or something?" Sirius said.

"Well, yes, in a way." James said. "The 'fortune teller' told one of the lower agents in the department- that girl, Hermione. She's been promoted of course."

"How do I remain in the dark about all of this?" Sirius said. "Honestly! I didn't know Hermione had been promoted. I'll have to go congratulate her later today." 

"You know the girl?" James said.

"Of course I know her!" Sirius said. "She's one of Harry's best friends , didn't you know- oh heavens."

A bell rang. James rolled his eyes and stood up. "Lunch's over. See you later."

"Bye."

~~*~~

            _Dear Harry,_

_Mum is having a big dinner on Thursday of this week. All my family is coming home for it, and you're invited as well, because we do consider you our family. So come by the Burrow around 7:30. Write back to tell me if you're free._

_            ~Ron_

Harry and Ginny stared at the letter.

"Do you think I should go?" Harry asked. "I mean, it might be too awkward."

"No." Ginny said. "If you didn't go, they'd be worried. You've always come to the family dinners. If you stopped now…"

"But-" Harry said. She silenced him by pressing a finger to his mouth.

"It'll be a perfect time to tell them." Ginny said. "We've been dating for almost a year an a half. They should know."

"Are you sure?" Harry said.

"Yes." Ginny said.

"You're right." Harry said, after a long pause. "I'm sick of living this lie. It's wrong. Plus, what's the worse thing that could happen?"

Ginny smiled and kissed him. "I really do love you, at times like this."

Harry kissed her back passionately. "I love you too."

~~*~~

At dinner on Thursday, Harry and Ginny avoided each other. They exchanged a few, sneaky glances, but never words. Harry was busy talking to the twins about their business enterprises. Ginny was helping her mother in the kitchen. Ron and Hermione sat in the living room, sipping wine and talking quietly. Bill and Charlie were talking with Percy and Penelope outside and their wives were chatting together at the kitchen table.

"Dinner!" Mrs. Weasley called at 8:00. The huge group filtered into the garden where a table was laid out with a large amount of food, but then, there were almost 15 of them. Harry sat in the middle of the twins at the far end of the table. Ginny sat across from him. Ron and Hermione sat next to her.

Conversation was happy and flowing for the entire meal, but afterwards, when everybody was done eating, it came to a slight halt. Molly, who'd been talking with all the couples, had finally come to Ginny.

"You didn't bring anybody home for me this time." Molly said. "I'm not disappointed, don't you think it, but, are you seeing anybody?"

Ginny cast a long look at Harry, before saying, "Well, now that you mention it-" A crack of thunder cut her sentence in half. She looked up at the sky just as a sheet of rain poured down on them.

"Get everything into the house!" Cried Mr. Weasley. "Quickly!"

Harry and Ginny were the first to react, possibly because they were already jumpy. Harry grabbed the potato salad and Ginny followed him into the house shortly afterward with some used plates. 

"We were that close." Ginny said, livid. She bobbed from one foot to the other, shaking slightly. Harry grabbed her hands to try to calm her down. "It was almost out-"

"What are you two doing?" Ron asked, entering the kitchen. Harry dropped Ginny's hands. "If you're cold Ginny, put some more clothing on. Don't bother Harry, for heavens sake. We still need help outside as well. What are you waiting for, eh?"

By the time everything was in the house, everybody was soaking and cold. Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Fred were sitting by the fire in the living room, on the floor. When everything warmed up, Fred began to strike up a conversation.

"Well, Ginny." He said, elbowing his younger sister. She looked up at him.

"What?" She asked.

"You never finished your sentence outside." He said. "You were saying 'As a matter of fact' and then the rain came pouring down. So let's continue this conversation. I'm interested. Who's your newest swain?" 

"Um, well…" Ginny cleared her throat. "I've been meaning to-"

"He'd better not be older than you." Ron said, cutting her off. "I mean it Ginny. Older boys aren't good news. Do you remember when you dated Lee Jordan a few years ago? He broke your heart. He used you. We were all so mad at him, and Fred here still has a grudge, don't you Fred?"

"Not really, I've moved on. So has Ginny, I'm sure." Fred said, looking at Ron oddly. "Ginny, do finish your sentence. Ron, don't interrupt."

"Well I was going to say-"

"And then you dated Seamus a while ago, in school. Oh that was awful, wasn't it Ginny? He was only in _that relationship for one thing. You got hurt by him too! I told you, I don't like you dating older men. They aren't trust worthy. So if you're dating an older guy again, you'd better be careful. Or he'd better be careful. I'm sick of seeing you get hurt Ginny. If you get hurt by this new guy…I don't know what I'll do. I'll rip him apart, probably. Why don't you date that one boy you went to school with…Colin was it? He's nice enough…"_

"Ron!" Hermione cried. "That's quite enough!"

"Oh Hermione," Ron sighed. "You know how I am, just over protective. But I've got a good reason. Ginny, you're my only sister, and you're the baby of the family. We all worry about you when you date those older boys. Especially when I know them personally, because then I know exactly what'll happen to you. Like say for example, you were dating Harry." He paused and laughed. Harry and Ginny exchanged slightly frightened glances. "Harry, you're a great guy, don't get me wrong or anything, but I don't think I would be able to take it if you were dating my sister. It's because I know you so well, and I know the way your mind works. You go for those beautiful blonde girls and you do seem to attract them, what with all your press attention. I'd know that if you dated Ginny, you'd leave her for one of them, because they would offer something…you know what I'm talking about, don't you Harry? I guess that's a bad example though. You would never date Ginny, would you Harry? You two would be just awful together…I can't even think of a worse matched-" 

"Ron SHUT UP!" Ginny cried, wrapping her arms around her knees. "Honestly, the way you talk! I'd say you want me to die an old maid."

"Oh of course I don't want that." Ron said, rolling his eyes and punching her lightly. "I just don't want to see you in a bad relationship again."

"I think you're a psychopath." Fred said. "You never even let Ginny answer her question. Just be quiet and don't interrupt anymore! I'll deck you, if you do again. Ginny, will you please finish you sentence now? Are you seeing anybody?"

Ginny looked at Harry, not caring who noticed. "No." She said quietly. "I'm not seeing anybody at all."

~~*~~

"Potter! Come here!"

James looked up from his paperwork. The head of the office- Mr. Fields- was standing in his doorway. James stood up and nodded to him. "What's up?"

"Step in my office; I have a new job for you." Mr. Fields said and walked down the hall. James followed him curiously. Inside the office James slumped into a leather chair.

"New job sir?" He asked.

"Well yes." Mr. Fields said. "Remember the man who wrote to Ms. Weasley about the death eater attack?"

"Of course I do." James said. "I was there when you got the news." 

"I need you to get in contact with him to see if he knows anything else." Said Mr. Fields, shifting through papers. He was a thick built French man, with a menacing smile and stern eyes. James had come to know him over the years as a colleague and a friend.

"Get in contact with an anonymous person?" James said.

"He's not really anonymous." Mr. Fields said. "I just never told anybody his name, and neither did Ms. Weasley. But we know who he is."

"Well?" James said.

"Patience, I'm getting to that. Anyway, I need you to write him. You will be spending a _lot of time with him from now on, though it wont matter, you already know him, I dare say. In the letter you'll ask for his cooperation and for his help…here. I have the guidelines typed up for you." He handed James a folded piece paper. "His address is on the top. You're dismissed."_

"Thank you sir." James said, retreating out of the room. _Lets see who the lucky sod is…. He opened the piece of paper and read silence for half a second before turning around again. The name printed on the paper was __Harry Potter. _

He didn't bother knocking on Mr. Fields' door before storming in. Mr. Fields looked up from his paperwork in surprise.  "Is something the matter James?"

"You'd better bet there is!" James cried, waving the paper in his face. "There is no way in _hell I will work with him! There isn't enough money in the world that could pay me to do this! There aren't enough pain killers in the eastern hemisphere to get me through one day by his side! You can't be serious…you cannot make me take this assignment."_

"Oh, I can." Mr. Fields said calmly. "And now more than ever. I thought you'd be happy to work with your son, obviously I'm wrong. You can use the opportunity to get to know him better. Honestly, man, don't be a child about it. I'll give you a bigger Christmas bonus this year, if that'll make you feel any better."

"It may have an impact." James muttered. "Do I actually have to come in contact with him? Can this be done through letters?"

"I don't see why not." Mr. Fields rolled his eyes. "Now get cracking. We haven't got all year to get this done. And don't forget to ask him about Mr. Nobody. He's our only hope."

"Well then I hope your hopes aren't too high." James snorted. "Harry probably wont even cooperate, if he knows that I have something to do with it…"

"Well chin up." Fields said. "So goodbye, good luck and _get out!"_


	3. Freewill

Freewill. Everybody is born with it, but not everybody uses it. Your freewill is something precious. It

allows you to think for yourself, make your own decisions. There are only 2 known ways to lose

your freewill. You can be forced into slavery- or your senses can be enthralled and something

unknown can take you over- something darker and deadlier.

~~*~~

__

Dear Mr. Potter,

Let me take this opportunity to thank you for your services to the Ministry of Magic, more specifically the Aurors. Your information saved a whole street full of Wizards, and you will not be forgotten by those many people for as long as they live. You are a hero. But something else

in your letter has sparked our interest, here at the Auror Division. You said something about a

masked Death Eater in your letter. Maybe you don't realize the importance of his appearance,

so let me tell you. This masked death eater- Mr. Nobody as we call him here- has been with

the Death Eaters for about 2 months now. He is an extremely dangerous man (or woman, we

really have no idea) and we've been trying to track him down since the second we caught

wind of him. He is untrackable, untraceable and quite honestly we didn't even know he was

real until you reported his existence. Anyways, my boss, the head of the department has

assigned me to keep close contact with you always because you are, at the moment, our only

lead on this Death Eater. You will be payed for your services. Please write back as soon as

you can. 

I will not sign my name incase this letter is intercepted. 

A tawny owl sat, impatiently waiting for Harry to write a reply. Harry however was going over the letter in his mind slowly, thinking. He would say yes, of course, because he wanted to get rid of any Death Eater as much as the next person, maybe more. But something about the letter seemed wrong.

Why didn't the person sign? He or she had let out enough information that it could be easily- very easily- tracked down. 

Harry was lurched our of his thoughts by the owl, which nipped his hand. Harry shook it, (his hand, not the owl) and glared. "Fine, I'll reply." He said, pulling a quill out of the desk. He softened the tip and dipped it in an ink pot.

__

Dear Sir or Miss,

I would be happy to help you in your search for 'Mr. Nobody,' but I would like to know just

who I'm working for. I don't want to find out that you're a spy for some other group I want

nothing apart of. Also, how much time will this take out of my schedule? Maybe you know

that I do have a job already, playing Quidditch for Puddlemere United. Anyhow, write back a

place where I can meet you. Also, I don't know what kind of a help I'm going to be for you, if

I don't hear him/her speak in my dreams. I suppose we'll cover that later though.

Sincerely,

Harry Potter

He folded the letter and sealed it in an envelope. The tawny owl took it in its beak and flew off.

Harry took a deep breath and slumped back into the chair. 

"Harry why are you still here?" Came a call from the kitchen.

"Um, because it's Saturday?" Harry said. 

"You have a game in 20 minutes you dolt!" Ginny cried, running into view. "Come on! Get dressed!"

Harry looked at the clock and blanched. She was right of course. He ran into the bedroom, tearing off his clothes and throwing on the Quidditch uniform. Ginny helped him lace up the regulation boots as Harry tried to fix the clasp on the cloak. "Damn thing…" He muttered. Ginny straitened up and took it out of his hands.

"I'll get it." She said, taking it in her own hands. She had it done in 3 seconds flat. "You are so

forgetful…." 

"I'd never get by with out you." He said, leaning in to kiss her. At the last second he pulled out. "My glasses." He said, turning around and pulling them off. "Can you find my contacts?" "They're on the dresser." Ginny said, crossing her arms. Harry popped them in and turned around again. "How do I look?"

"Like a Quidditch player." Ginny said flatly.

"That bad, eh?"

"Uh huh." Ginny said. Harry laughed, looking down at himself.

"Are you going to be able to come to the game?"

"I don't think so."

"Okay." Harry said. "Well they'll be missing me." He kissed her twice, pulling away briefly and then turning. He disapparated then, leaving her alone in the bedroom.

"Where were you?" Oliver Wood hissed when Harry appeared in the locker room, with Harry's

broom in his hand. "And why do you have lipstick on you?" Harry blushed and wiped his mouth.

"The game's going to start in 10 minutes."

"I forgot the time." Harry said truthfully. "I got a letter and I was just-"

"Sure, sure." Oliver said. "We told Avery that he'd be filling in for you today since your so late, so go tell him you're sorry and that he can go home, unless he wants to stay for the game. See you out there- good luck. Remember, we're playing Bulgaria today."

~~*~~

"Ron, remind me why we're here again?" Hermione grumbled, walking down a crowded row.

"We're watching Harry play!" Ron said. "This is going to be a great game too. It's against Bulgaria!"

Hermione turned around to face him. "Bulgaria! That's Viktor's team!"

Ron glared and pushed her forward. As they sat down, Ron grabbed her hand and pointed to a gold band on her ring finger. "I put that ring on, not him." He snarled. 

Hermione threw back her head and laughed. "Not jealous are you?"

"Of course- oh look! There's Harry!"

The Puddlemere team did two warm up laps around the stadium and then went down to their side of the stadium. Bulgaria then came out of their locker room and zipped around the stadium. 

The head referee glided in the middle of them. He raised his left arm into the air, and the brooms

went up into the air. With his other hand he threw up the Quaffle into the air. He blew a whistle very hard and cheers broke out through the stadium. 

Harry was in his normal position, above the field, circling slowly, his eyes scanned for the Snitch. He lost his train of vision when Bulgaria made the first points. He dove then into the game and as he did so, he saw his own face on the big screen.

"Look, they've got his itinerary!" Hermione said, pointing to the screen. She began to read out loud, "Harry Potter, age 22, 5'9 member of the team since-"

"BULGARIA SCORES!" 

"Aw, no!" Ron said loudly and began booing. 

"Hullo Harry." Came a low voice in Harry's ear. Harry snapped his head to the side, to see Viktor less than a meter away from him. 

"Hi Viktor." Harry said in a strained voice. "I can't talk right now…" He pulled up and sped to the other side of the stadium. Viktor trailed him.

"How is Her-mon-ninny?" 

"Married!" Harry cried going forward again to hover over the main action. "To Ron Weasley. She's in the crowd today with- OH!" He dove. Viktor dove as well.

"THE SNITCH HAS BEEN SPOTTED! THE TWO SEEKERS ARE NOW DIVING FOR IT,

BUT THEY MAY BE TOO LATE! THE SNITCH LOOKS AS IF IT MIGHT BE- HEY!

PUDDLEMERE SCORES!"

Harry whooped as he dove. He was much lighter than Viktor and was slowly getting a head of him. Harry could see the Snitch clearly now. It was right in the middle of those two- Harry groaned- Bulgarian beaters._ This is going to hurt. _

He gripped the broom tightly with his knees and let go of the broom with his hands. He flipped into a stop and grabbed the snitch, just as two Bludgers smashed into his ribs. 

"AND PUDDLEMERE WINS! WHAT A SHORT GAME!" Cried the announcer wildly.

"HARRY POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH AND TAKES ONE FOR THE TEAM AS

WELL. HE DOESN'T LOOK TO GOOD- ARE THE MEDICS COMING?"

Harry fell off his broom from the pain just as a stretcher and two nurses appeared. They moved the stretcher over three feet and Harry fell into it.

Viktor flew over him. "Good game." He said and zoomed off.

"Good game." Harry winced.

~~*~~

"I wonder if he broke any bones." Hermione said thoughtfully when she and Ron arrived at home. 

"Probably." Ron said. "He's broken every bone in his body I think, save his neck."

Hermione nodded. "It was a good, short game. I'm glad it didn't last any longer."

"Oh I wish it lasted longer." Ron said. "Tickets aren't so cheap. But I still had fun."

"When's Harry's birthday?"

"July 31st." Ron said. "I thought you knew that."

"I do." Hermione said. "I just was wondering…it's coming up…what should we get him?"

"We?" Ron said. 

"Yes, we." Hermione said. 

"I don't know." Ron said.

"Well think!" Hermione snapped. They sat for a few minutes in silence.

"How about…" Ron said. "How about a blender?"

Hermione snorted. "Nice try."

"What's your idea?"

"Well." Hermione said. "I was thinking we could throw him a surprise party."

"His birthday is in three days, that's not enough time to plan. And that's not a present either."

"Fine." Hermione said, crossing her arms grumpily. 

"I like the idea of a surprise though." Ron said and paused. "What if we surprised him really early in the morning and then took him out for the day? We could…I don't know… do something?"

"We could go to Hogsmeade and have breakfast there and then go to all our old favorite places!"

Hermione cried. "It's perfect!"

"Ah, thank you."

"Excuse me?!" Hermione said. "It's not really your idea now, is it?" Ron muttered incoherently and walked into the bedroom.

~~*~~

__

Russet Café 1205 E Oakbrook Way- July 30th 11 o'clock AM

Back left-hand corner booth 

Harry looked up at the sign in front of the building and then at the letter again. He was at the right place. He was a good 15 minutes late to this conference, but he didn't really care. Harry pushed open the door and looked around. The Russet Café was a Muggle coffee shop in England, painted bright colors with electric Christmas lights hanging around the walls. It smelled like coffee beans and baking bread and was overly air-conditioned. A dry-erase board boasted today's specials. Harry glanced at them before heading to the left corner in the back. 

In the booth was a man without a face, because he was reading a menu. Harry cleared his throat

loudly. Slowly, ever so slowly, the menu came down. Harry's hands balled into fists as his face

contorted. 

"You!" He hissed.

"Yes, me." James snapped. "I figured you'd do that. Sit down, you're getting looks."

"No!" Harry said, sitting down. "I can't do this if I'm working with-"

"Look Harry, I don't want to do this any more than you do." James said. "But this is what I get paid to do."

"Work with me?" Harry said incredulously. "There is no way! No! Anybody but you!"

"Ah, I can feel the love flowing between us." James said, sighing.

"Don't be stupid." Harry said, looking horrified. "I think I'm going to leave now." He stood up.

James grabbed his wrist. Harry yanked it away.

"Don't you want to fight Voldemort?" James said.

"Yes. Of course I do." Harry said, rubbing his wrist as if he'd been hurt.

"Well this is the closest we'll get to him, through Mr. Nobody!"

"Do you realize how absurd you sound saying that?" Harry asked. 

"What would _you_ call him then?" James said, finally looking angry.

"I don't know, but Mr. Nobody is dumb."

"Oh, what a comeback."

"That's it!" Harry cried. "I'm leaving! I can't do this!" Not caring if any Muggles saw, Harry

Disapparated. James looked defeated. 

Harry appeared in his living room and started pacing.

"Harry, how was it?" Ginny asked, walking out of the kitchen. 

"It was _him_." Harry spat, still pacing.

"Who?" Ginny said. "It was who?"

"My-"

There was a small crack and James Potter stood in Harry's living room. Harry yelled in surprise.

Ginny looked lost.

"ARE YOU MAD?" He yelled at Harry. "Disapparating in font of all those Muggles! One of them could have seen you and-"

"_Why are you in my home_?" Harry snarled, walking dangerously close to him. They were exactly the same height now. 

"Look we hadn't finished talking yet!" James said, stepping back. He looked around the apartment.

"It wouldn't be so bad working together-" His eyes rested on Ginny. His sentence stopped abruptly.

"Oh shit."

"I was wondering if you would see her." Harry snapped, looking venomous. "By the way, I will

never forget that you asked my girlfriend out."

"I had no way of knowing." James said faintly.

"Harry let it rest." Ginny said lightly in the background. 

"Ginny, maybe you'd better leave." Harry said, turning to look at her. "I don't know how long this is going to take."

"No, I think I'll stay." Ginny said, glaring at him. "I pay half the rent, it's my house too."

"Whatever." Harry said, turning around to face his father, who was staring at him bemusedly. "What are you looking at?"

"You've grown up." James said lightly. 

"Oh, well spotted." 

"You pay for your own house, you've got a live-in-girlfriend and you're financially independent."

"I've always been financially independent." Harry snapped. "Thanks to you."

James opened his mouth to say something back, but shut it quickly. He knew when he'd lost a fight. He walked to the door of the house. "Well I guess I'd better go tell my boss that you won't help us find the Death Eater."

Harry said nothing and watched him leave. Ginny tried to say something but caught herself in the middle of forming a vowel. After a few minutes of staring at the space where James had stood, she spoke up again. "You really don't like him, do you?"

"I really don't." Harry said, breaking his gaze to look at her. "He makes no attempt to get a long with me. I won't either."

"So you aren't going to do the job with him then." Ginny said, biting her lip and looking straight into his eyes. 

Harry took a deep breath and let it out slowly. His eyes clouded over as he thought. "Well." He said slowly. "I should. If it gets at Voldemort, I guess I have some sort of obligation….What do you think I should do?"

"Go find him before he talks to his boss, of course." Ginny said. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Harry shrugged and appeared in the Auror Department.

A plaque listed everybody in the office.

After a moment of searching, his eye found "Potter, James B06" Harry disapparated to that room. 

James was sitting at his desk.

"Look." Harry said. "I'll do it. Not because I like you, but because you're not going to get that guy without me. I can't guarantee that I will be that much of a help, but I'll try."

James didn't look surprised. "Good. I told my boss you agreed." 

Harry pulled a face. "What?"

"You think I don't know you." James said lightly. "But I've talked to you enough that I know that you're just like me. I would never not take a job like this. I knew you'd come here."

"I hate you." Harry said. "That's all there is too it." He fell into one of James' chairs. 

"Oh really."

"Don't get all smart ass on me, or I'll leave." Harry warned. "And if you know me that well you'll know that I keep my word."

"Sure." James said. "Well do you even want to know what you're going to be doing?"

"Yes." Harry said. "That might be helpful."

"Well it's pretty easy." James said. "All you have to do is have one of those dreams. And when you do have one you have to record it down, every last detail of it. You know what sort of things to look for, right?"

"Just tell me." Harry said.

"Well any news on attacks, any names of Death Eaters, any information that tells you anything about Voldemort's eventual plans, and of course, anything about Mr.- uh – The new Death Eater. Stuff like that."

"So basically any and all conversations I remember." Harry said. 

"Yes." James said. "That's perfect."

"All right, so if I have any dreams I'll come strait here- or should we meet somewhere else?"

"I rather like the Russet Café, myself." James said. "That way I can have an extra lunch break."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Okay, well I'll let you know." He stood up. "Bye then."

He was almost out the door when-

"Wait!" James said. Harry turned around. "I'm sorry about the whole girlfriend thing."

Harry paled and walked into the office again, shutting the door firmly.

"Not so _loud_! Harry hissed. "Nobody is supposed to know about that. I'm expecting it to stay a

secret, okay?"

"Why?" James said. "That's awfully juvenile of you to do."

"It is not." Harry said. "You have no idea what it's like having the press down your back every day of your life. If I had a girlfriend I'd never hear the end of it. Plus Ginny's brother, my best friend, does not like the idea of Ginny being out with anybody who isn't her age and who is from this universe. He's very picky and I'm not in his line of vision for her."

"Oh, so it really is the right thing to do." James said, looking slightly shocked.

"I know how to take care of myself, thank you very much." Harry said walking to the door again.

"Not a word, okay? Sirius doesn't even know." 

"Okay, calm down." James said. "If you can't trust your own father, who can you trust?"

"Oh don't make me laugh! Trust? You?" Harry snorted and then looked at James seriously. "Well, whatever you say, Professor_ Krikor_."

~~ * ~~


	4. Senses

Senses. There are five known, but the ominous 6th sense has never been proven to exist. The 6th

sense is not as the movie says- an ability to see dead people- it is the ability to sense things. When you feel like you're being watched, you're sixth sense is working. When you feel Deja` Vou, that is your sixth sense working. When you have anything close to an out of body experience- that is your sixth sense. The sixth sense was given to humanity a long time ago. It is a blessing in disguise.

~~*~~

It was early in the morning, maybe 6:30. Ron and Hermione were fully dressed in their own

apartment. They sat at their kitchen table, discussing the plan. 

"So we apparate into the front hall?" Ron said. 

"Yes." Hermione said.

"And you're sure he doesn't have an Apparation guard?"

"Positive." Hermione said. "So are you ready to go?"

"Uh-huh." Ron said.

"See you there then!" Hermione grinned and snapped out of vision.

~~*~~

Ginny awoke suddenly from her sleep, due to two popping noises. She yawned and looked around the room for anything out of place, but saw nothing. Harry was curled up next to her, still asleep. She grinned, remembering the date. 

She lay down facing him in the bed and stroked his cheek with one finger. His eyes fluttered opened and rested on her. He smiled sleepily. "Morning, birthday boy." She said quietly, playing with a little bit of his hair.

"You remembered." He said, propping himself up slightly.

"Oh Harry!" She said a little louder than planned and threw her arms around him.

~~*~~

"What was that?" Ron hissed, crouching behind a counter in the kitchen, looking around. 

"I don't know." Hermione said, putting a finger to his lips. "Don't talk so loud."

"Okay." Ron whispered very quietly, so that Hermione could barely hear him. They began to make their way very slowly to hide behind the bulky dining room table.

~~*~~

She thrust her hands through Harry's messy hair and Harry stroked her back as they hugged warmly. Somehow they moved into more of a sitting position. Ginny pulled out of the hug and tried to get a better look at Harry. Their eyes met for a split second and then his lips were on hers, their breath mingling together. 

The sheets of the bed were long on the floor by this point and neither made a move to get them back to their normal position as they kissed. Ginny leaned back in Harry's arms, enjoying the moment.

~~*~~

Ron and Hermione were now crouched behind the large desk, the only object left between them and Harry's open bedroom door. 

"Okay, on three." Ron said.

"What do we say?" Hermione said.

"Happy Birthday Harry, obviously." Ron said.

"Sounds good!" Hermione said. They situated themselves so that they could spring up quickly.

"One…" They chorused.

Harry moved his mouth away from hers. "No," Ginny whispered and brought his head by hers again. He was gentler this time, his lips moving carefully over hers, pulling away briefly, and then returning over and over again. 

"Two…" Ron and Hermione shifted again, ready to spring up.

Ginny was melting into his arms, which circled around her, feeling that if he let go, she would fall. He really is a good kisser, she admitted to herself in a daze. Her hands went to the hem of his shirt and began to play with it. He got the idea and began to take his shirt off, never breaking the kiss. 

"Three!" Ron and Hermione sprung up. "HAPPY BIRTH-" 

Everybody froze. Harry's shirt was half pulled up, his and Ginny's kiss ended abruptly. 

"What the-" Ron started. Ginny was half out of view, behind Harry's back. 

"Oh my god!" Hermione cried, going white. "Oh no- oh- oh no! Ohh….no! Oh god. Oh god. Oh

no!" 

Harry quickly put his shirt down. He swallowed deeply. Ginny's mind raced. Harry, in boxer

shorts, taking his shirt off. _Me, in a tank top and underwear, kissing him. It's the middle of_

summer; we don't wear much to bed… She moved slowly out from behind Harry to see the scene.

Harry turned around to face them as well. Ron's eyes locked on Ginny and he paled. There was one second of pure silence and then-

"ARGHHHHHH!" Ron yelled, diving onto the bed. His hands locked around Harry's throat.

Hermione started yelling 'oh no' again. Ginny screamed. Ron didn't seem to hear. He shook Harry as he choked him, saying broken phrases like "little sister…take advantage of…best friend…kill you…"

"Stop it Ron!" Ginny screamed, tears pouring down her face. Harry's face, in turn was turning

purple. "Let him go Ron! RON!" Ron continued choking Harry. Harry's arms flailed out desperately around him. Hermione was crying now as well, along with her pitiful shouts. Ginny shouted, "RON! STOP!" one more time before picking up a lamp from the bedside table. She knocked him over the head and he tumbled to the floor, unconscious. 

~~*~~

Ginny flew to Harry, who was taking large, raspy breaths. He was shaking. "Oh God," She said

crying and curling into a ball by him, "Harry…are you okay?" He kissed her lips numbly as he felt his neck with his hands. Bruises were already starting to form. Hermione stood still pointing at them with a disbelieving look on her face.

Harry straitened then, looking amazingly calm, and stood up. He picked up Ron and threw him over his shoulder. He dumped him onto an armchair in the living room and sat on the couch staring at him. 

"He should be out for a while." Harry said. Hermione walked in a few seconds later, looking like she was going to be ill. Ginny was sitting by Harry, curled against him still, with her head resting on his chest. "That's if we don't revive him."

Hermione just stared.

"You probably want an explanation, don't you?" Harry said. Hermione nodded, her eyes wide.

Harry peeled away from Ginny and went to the kitchen saying, "Well it's kind of a long story, and there is no way I'm telling this twice." He returned with a glass of water. "Hermione, lift his head up, will you?"

Hermione nodded and did so. 

"Get ready to hold him back." Harry warned as he splashed the water on Ron's face. Ron sputtered and shook his head. He then opened his eyes and a look of realization flashed across his face.

"You two-timing little-!" Ron said and tried to sit up, but Harry held him by the shoulders. 

"Ron, I'm sure we could knock you out again if you don't shut up." Harry said coolly, but his eyes danced. "There are plenty lamps here and Ginny has amazing aim. So are you going to listen to an explanation, or are you going to attack me before you know anything?"

"I hate you." Ron said. Harry looked hurt and sat back down next to Ginny. 

"We'll hear an explanation." Hermione croaked. "Won't we Ron."

"Yes." Ron sat up now and crossed his arms. "Enlighten us. Pray tell, how long have you been lying to us?"

"Almost two and a half years." Harry said, avoiding Ron's eyes. Ron's face turned from angry to sickened. "We didn't tell you mainly because of me. It's the press. They were always down my back when I had a girlfriend and I was really sick of it- so when Ginny and I…we decided that we didn't need to tell anybody. It wasn't so bad, either, keeping it from you all. You'd be surprised. And so we dated, off and on for 2 years."

"Two…years?" Hermione said slowly. "That's impossible! You've had girlfriends these past years. Unless you-"

"You put too much trust in the magazines and the newspapers." Harry said, shooing the idea away. "Remember in our fourth year when we quote-quote "dated?"" Hermione looked sour. "Well the press thinks that every time I have a friend that's a girl, she's my girlfriend. I just didn't say anything to make you think otherwise."

"And how did this- happen?" Hermione asked. Ron looked at her as if he didn't want to know.

Ginny grabbed Harry's hand and started to talk, "Well, we both were in the Leaky Cauldron. Harry had a newspaper up…."

_"Can I get you anything?" The old bartender asked. As the newspaper went down, Ginny_

brought her menu up and began to scan it for something appetizing.

"Oh, I'd just like coffee, Tom." The man who was formerly hidden behind the newspaper said.

"And a sandwich with ham, cheese, tomato and lettuce- no pickles- and mayonnaise.

Thanks."

"Sure thing." Tom said. He moved over to Ginny. "And for you miss?"

Ginny put her menu down and looked up at the toothless bartender. "Just a glass of water

and a sandwich with ham, cheese and lettuce. Oh hold the pickles and can I have it with

mayonnaise please?"

"Of course." Tom said, as he walked away he said, "Popular sandwich." 

Ginny leaned over in her seat to grab a magazine out of her bag. As she straitened, she cast a

look at the man at the next table over. Her breath caught. "Harry?" She said. "Harry Potter,

is that you?"

"That was kind of it." Ginny said, looking a little dreamy. "After that moment, we kept bumping into each other; it was kind of like a sign-"

Ron groaned loudly, cutting her off. "I don't want to hear this crap."

"You wanted an explanation." Harry said acidly. 

"No, I want to know what was going on when we came in." Ron snapped. "I want to know what

you were doing to my little sister."

"We were knitting sweaters Ron." Ginny snapped. "What do you think we were doing? Or are you really that daft. You know when two people like each other they want to express it by-"

"STOP!" Ron yelled. "STOP RIGHT NOW! I DON'T WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING ELSE!"

"Look Ron!" Ginny said, standing up suddenly, dropping Harry's hand. "It was never really your decision who I date and who I don't and Harry and I have been living together quite happily for almost 6 months. We're good together we're-"

"Full of shit!" Ron said standing up as well. "Is this some way to get back at me? Dating my best friend? You're being a stupid little girl again, just like in school. You're going to get hurt and-"

"Shut up!" Ginny cried. "You don't know the half of it." 

"I know everything I need to know." Ron snarled. "You are-"

"We are in LOVE Ron!" Ginny yelled. Harry stood up and put his arm around her waist. "I don't know why you don't want me to be happy- but it's clear you don't."

"Leave our house, now. And don't come back until you grow up a little." Harry said icily. Ginny

started to cry and he wrapped her in his arms.

Hermione looked from Harry and Ginny to Ron and back again. Ron was trying to form words.

Finally he found his voice. "My best friend and my little sister." He spat. There was long pause, in which the only sound was Ginny's muffled sobs. Ron was staring at Harry with some sort of malice in his eyes. Harry didn't seem to notice and was trying to get Ginny to stop crying. He wiped her tears with one finger and whispered things to her very quietly. Ron's face melted. "My best friend…and my little sister."

Like some tragically fluffy Disney movie, Harry and Ginny (still wrapped in each other's arms)

looked at the now beaming Ronald Weasley. Ginny let out one more choked sob and then smiled, the tears still streaming down her face. "What do you mean?" She asked quietly. Slowly, ever so slowly, she and Harry pulled apart.

Ron swallowed. "I would never want you to be un-happy." He said. "And I guess I couldn't really ask for a better couple. I mean, I know I'll like the guy you-date."

Ginny threw herself on Ron. "Oh thank you Ron!" She cried hugging him. Ron looked a little scared. 

"If you make her cry, I'll kill you." Ron said, wrenching himself away from Ginny.

Harry cocked his head to the side and pointed to the bruises from Ron's hand. "I know." He said

plainly.

"Oh right…sorry about that." Ron said sheepishly. Everybody laughed nervously and sat down in the

sofas again. "Is there anything else you want to tell us, while we're letting out secrets and all? You're not married with 7 children or anything, right?"


	5. Motives

Motives. We all have them, be them good or bad. It's our drive- or aim- to do something. Most

people have a motive for success. Some have a motive to publish a book or a story. Some want to get a raise on their paycheck. Some have a hidden motive- an ulterior motive. That means they have something else planned and nobody knows about it. Sometimes, that person doesn't know they have it themselves. But it all comes out in the end. Everything always comes out in the end.

~~*~~

The Russet Café was jam packed when Harry arrived. Harry headed strait back to the left hand

corner booth without any hesitation. James was sitting there, reading a newspaper as always. When Harry arrived, he put it down. The cover story of the day was 'Potter's Secret Mistress Scandal'. 

"I swear to god I didn't say anything." James said when he saw Harry looking at it in disgust.

"I know." Harry said, not taking his eyes off of it. "My neighbors over-heard a fight I was having with some friends of mine about the relationship. They confronted me about it a few days ago and then reported it to the Prophet. I haven't gotten away from the press until now."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Harry shrugged off the comment. "So what brings you here?"

"I had a dream, of course." Harry said. "Why else would I be here?"

"I don't know, the coffee is pretty good here."

"Why would I come to have coffee with you?" Harry said, raising an eyebrow. 

"Touché." James said. "So tell me what happened."

"It wasn't a death eater meeting." Harry said. "I'm not sure what it was exactly, only that I've seen the room before. There was a tall armchair by a fire and Nagini was sitting by the foot of the chair. Voldemort was sitting in the chair, staring into the fire. I don't remember everything he said, but it was something a long the lines of 're-enforcements coming to help them.'"

"Re-enforcements?" James said, taking out a pad of paper and scribbling down notes. "Did he say what kind of Re-enforcements?"

"He did." Harry said. "I can't remember what it was though. There were other people in the room. One was definitely Lucious Malfoy, there were two men behind him… they were big men, thick necks and that sort of thing. I can't remember their names. And that masked guy was there too. 'Mr. Nobody' or whatever."

"Did Mr. Nobody say anything?"

"Not one word." Harry said. "It was very creepy. He's pretty tall-"

"How tall would you say?"

"I don't know… how tall are you?"

"Almost 6 feet." James said. 

"Well he was your size." Harry said. "He didn't have a cloak on or anything, just plain black robes, kind of like what we used to have to wear for Hogwarts. And he had one of those masks on. I have no idea what those masks are made of-"

"It's a mix of spandex and silk." James said, cutting him off. "We have a few for the under-cover Aurors."

"Okay, well he had the mask on. I've never seen a Death Eater with a mask on and no cloak. He

almost didn't look real. I would tell you he was some sort of dummy, if only I hadn't seen his eyes moving around in the sockets.

"What color were his eyes? Do you remember?"

Harry shuddered involuntarily. "Pink and bloodshot."

James took a deep breath. "He's been hanging out with Voldemort for a long time then."

"Or he's an albino."

James looked up suddenly from his pad of paper. "I never thought about that… I'm going to find out if there are any Albino Wizards." He stood up. "Is that all you have to report to me?"

"Yes." Harry said. 

"Thanks Harry." James rushed out of the restaurant. 

~~*~~

Harry was just about to walk out of the restaurant himself, when a female appeared in the exact same place where James had sat. None of the Muggles seemed to notice. A recorder was shoved in his face.

"Go!" Harry said, pushing it away. "Go away from me!"

"Look Mr. Potter- we heard about your affair-"

"It wasn't an affair!" Harry cried, attracting some attention from the Muggles.

"Then why didn't you tell anybody about it?" Asked the woman. Harry snarled- Rita Skeeter. 

"For this exact reason!" Harry said, standing up. "I didn't want you prying into my life!" He walked out of the Russet Café.

"And what were you doing with your father?" Rita asked. "I thought you and he didn't get

along…have you reconciled?"

"No!" Harry said, walking faster down the street.

"Your partner has failed to comment on this whole subject and-"

"Good!" Harry yelled and turned around suddenly. Rita ran into him.

"Whoops, sorry about that." She said taking a step back. "Now you're neighbors heard a heated

fight between you and your friends…can you tell me what was happening?"

"NO COMMENT!" He made an angry gesture and Disapparated into his apartment. 

"Hi Harry, how was your father?" Ginny asked sweetly.. 

"I don't want to talk about it." Harry said, collapsing in a chair. "What would you say to getting an apparition block around the apartment?"

"Well- what if there was an emergency and nobody could get to us?" Ginny said. "No, I don't think I'd like that."

Harry smacked himself on the forehead and leaned back further into the chair. 

"Are you okay, Harry?" Ginny asked, coming into the living room.

"No…" Harry moaned. "I'm being attacked by the press. Are you okay?"

"I don't know…." Ginny said. "It's kind of fun getting the attention."

Harry's eyes bulged and he leaned forward. "Are you insane?"

"Oh come on!" Ginny said. "It's not that bad. The whole world loves you! You should be flattered."

"Flattery ended a long, long time ago." Harry said. "I can't believe you like this, Gin. Can you even imagine what your parents think of us now?

Ginny swallowed and paled. Obviously, she had not thought about that. "My mom- oh no. She's

going to freak!" She grabbed Harry's hand. "We have to go talk to them!"

"Oh no we don't!" Harry said. "You talk to them. I don't want your dad to strangle me like Ron

did."

"Harry." Ginny said in a warning voice. Harry shook his head.

"I've got to talk to Sirius." He said. "I really have got to talk to him." 

"Oh fine!" She huffed and Disapparated.

Harry Disapparated, ending up in front of Sirius's door. He knocked three times.

The door swung open almost at once. A middle aged woman with dark brown hair opened the door. Harry swallowed, "Taryn, is Sirius home?" Taryn was Sirius's girlfriend.

Taryn leaned against the frame of the door and looked at him. "Nope, sorry Harry. He was called into work. Some emergency."

"Emergency?" Harry said. "What kind of emergency?"

"A Death Eater attack." She said. Harry grabbed Taryn by the shoulders and had the urge to shake her, but she looked shocked enough, as it was.

"Did he say where it was?" He asked, looking fiercely into her brown eyes.

"I'm afraid he didn't." She said, looking away from him.

"Don't lie to me." Harry said, shaking her once. "Please tell me where it is."

"Well don't tell him I told you, but it's in Scotland…Hogsmeade."

"You're kidding me!" Harry said incredulously. "There is no-"

"You're not going to go there, are you?"

"What and get myself killed?" Harry said. "No, I'm not going. I'm not that stupid. Will you tell Sirius that I stopped by?"

"Yes, of course," Taryn said, "But I can't promise he'll come to your aid very fast."

"Just so long as you tell him."

"Chill, Harry." Taryn said. "Honestly, you're acting like your father…."

Harry gave her annoyed look and snapped, "Thanks for the help," and Disapparated. 


	6. Evil

"You could have told me there was going to be an attack yesterday!" James yelled. "You could have said SOMETHING. 20 people died! Civilians!"

"You think I meant to do that?" Harry yelled back. "You think I wanted the attack to happen? Do you honestly believe that I want Voldemort to win?"

"I've questioned your morals before." James snarled. Harry's face fell and got slightly green. He

balled his hands into fists. 

"You unbelievable-"

"Are we really back to name calling, Harry?" James asked. "I mean, really, I thought you'd grown

up."

"I'm 22 years old, James!" Harry yelled. "At this point, I'd say I'm more grown up than you are."

"So why didn't you do the grown up thing to do and tell me about the attack?" James said.

"I told you, I had no idea about it!" Harry said, advancing on him. "We're working with dreams

here, not documented facts. If I don't remember a dream in its entirety that does not mean I'm-"

"Twenty people died yesterday." James said. "There were 4 giants in Hogsmeade, crushing people. Dementors everywhere- and the Death Eaters were going crazy. We haven't lost a battle this bad since-"

"Stop blaming this on me!" Harry cried. "If it wasn't for me there would be a hundred more people dead. Maybe not in that attack, but bleeding Christ, I have done enough! I can't believe you- just because you didn't win-" 

"That's a treasonous response-" James started, but Harry slammed his door in James's face.

"HARRY YOU HAVE TO TALK TO ME SOMETIME!" he yelled. There was no answer. James rattled on the door handle, but it was locked.

Somebody cleared their throat next to James. James jumped and swiveled around to see who had

done it. Sirius was leaning on the wall some 5 feet away, looking slightly amused. "Hello James," he said, walking a little closer to him. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to reason with the shrew." He pointed to Harry's shut door. 

"You were accusing him of something that wasn't his fault." Sirius said. "I heard you two carrying on from the floor below. He's right."

"Shove off, what do you know, anyways?"

"I know you hate loosing." Sirius said. James looked infuriated. "And I know you needed somebody to blame it on. Just because we lost one battle doesn't mean that it was all Harry's fault."

"Yeah, I'll say." Came Harry's voice behind the shut door. "You're such a child. Face it, everybody has too loose at least once in their life. And it's not my fault that I didn't remember anything about an attack."

"But-" James started. Sirius patted him on the shoulder and he stopped.

"Just go home, chap." He said.

James glared at him. "Fine, whatever. I'm leaving." He disappeared. Harry opened the door and

stood aside to let Sirius into the apartment. 

"Sorry you had to hear all that." Harry said, shutting the door again. "He just turned up at my door like 10 minutes ago, yelling that I was trying to bring the Wizarding world to an all time low or something."

"I told you, he hates losing. He's a very bad sport."

"I wouldn't call this a sport," Harry said, "and I get your point, but he still shouldn't have said it." 

"Yes, yes." Sirius said. He took a seat at the kitchen table. "Taryn said you stopped by the house?"

"Yeah, when you were at the attack still." Harry said. "I was just thought that maybe you wanted an explanation about-um…have you read the post lately?"

"Yes." Sirius said looking at him with a dull spark in his eyes and a reprimand on his tongue. "I did see that and I must admit I'm a little disappointed in you."

"Yeah, whatever." Harry said. "But it isn't nearly as awful as they make it out to be. Sirius, we can talk about this later, I want to hear about the attack."

"All right." Sirius said. "It was awful- the worst one yet, I'd say. Voldemort somehow found some Giants to work for him and-"

"I thought we had all the Giants on our side!" Harry exclaimed.

"So did I." Sirius said flatly. "But he found some. About 5, actually. They were awful, just bowling people over and throwing them into walls as if we were bean bags or something. There weren't very many death eaters compared to the last attack, so that was easier to control…but the giants….I've never been so terrified in my life, Harry."

"Did any Aurors get killed?" Harry asked.

"Only one." Sirius said. "He wasn't even in the platoon that was supposed to be at the attack.

Murphy Meyers was his name. I never met him, but he was an idiot. He wanted to be the big hero so he just showed up and he got himself killed." Sirius shook his head.

"How many injured?" Harry wondered.

"Well there were all sorts of injuries, really." Sirius said. "What with all the people that got their

heads banged together by giants. Lots of broken bones- very disturbing. I'd say there was probably 100 injuries all together. But only 7 Aurors got severely injured, thankfully."

"What happened to them?"

"It was a giant. He stepped on some big board that all 7 of them were on and they- oh I saw it first hand- they just flew in the air for like 10 seconds. And then-" Sirius cringed, as if remembering their fall.

"Anybody you know?"

"Well, yes as a matter of fact. But nobody you would know, or care about. I know what you're

trying to get at. Hermione was there and she's alive and kicking- she wasn't hurt at all. She killed one of the giants, actually."

"Killed?"

"Yes." Sirius said. "You expect us too just let them go? I mean…they were killing people. We

caught 3 of the death eaters, by the way."

"Mr. Nobody?"

Sirius shrugged. "Who knows about him? I mean, how would we know who he was- he's always in costume. We might have gotten him, but-"

"We'll never know." Harry said. "Not until I figure out who he is."

"You and your father." Sirius said.

"Whatever," Harry said rolling his eyes. Suddenly Ginny burst through the apartment door holding two bags full of groceries. Sirius nearly fell out of his seat he was so surprised.

Harry sprang up and took the bags from her. "I didn't know you were going to go out and do that, I would have picked it up and-"

"Dad's pissed off." Ginny said, putting a set of keys into her purse. "I needed to buy something to blow steam off…then I remembered that we were kind of low on food. And you must be Sirius," Ginny said offering a hand as soon as she saw him. 

"I forgot about the whole…girlfriend thing." Sirius said shaking it. "You scared the hell out of me."

"So sorry." Ginny said. She opened her mouth to say something, but Harry beat her too it.

"Um, you said your dad was pissed off?"

"Yeah." Ginny's attention went back to Harry. Sirius watched in silence. "When I showed up at the house, they didn't say anything. My mum looked like she'd been crying, which didn't surprise me, but my dad. Oh god, he was sitting at the kitchen table, his hair looked like he'd been pulling at it and he had a pinched look on his face…I was kind of afraid."

"Well what happened?" Harry asked. "They aren't going to like…kick you out of the family or

anything, right?"

"Oh nothing like that," Ginny said, her brows furrowed. "In the end my mom started crying again because she was so happy about the whole thing- isn't that like her?"

"Yes." Harry said. "I'm glad she's good with the whole- um…thing." Harry said. "But your dad."

"He said it was 'okay' but he wouldn't look me in the eye and he didn't seem very sincere." Ginny said. "I think I just wrecked his vision of me- you know the perfect little girl who's middle name is Abstinence and first name is- um…Virginia." She laughed nervously. "I don't think they're allowed to call me Virginia anymore." 

~*~

"Ginny, I'm going to Diagon Alley today, you need anything?" Harry asked a few weeks later.

"Um…nothing comes to mind." Ginny said. 

Harry pulled some shoes on and looked over at her. "Okay, so I'll see you in a few hours, okay?

I've got to talk to him, also, so-"

"I've got a doctor's appointment in a few hours." Ginny said lazily. "So you might not see me for a bit. Will you make dinner tonight?"

"Sure." Harry said, looking concerned. "Why do you need to go to the doctors?"

"Oh it's just a physical." Ginny said. "My work requires them every year and I'm kind of running out of time so-"

"Just as long as you aren't dying of influenza." Harry said, sighing. She looked at him with misty eyes and he smiled twistedly. "Because I wouldn't want to catch that sickness, especially when I have an interview tomorrow."

She threw a book at his head. He ducked and smiled at her before disappearing with a pop. He

appeared in Madame Malkin's robe shop. He cleared his throat and she looked up from her desk. 

"Ah, Mr. Potter, you're just on time for your fitting. Follow me back please." She said, walking from out of the desk. She pulled out some robes from a rack. "I took these out for you, as a personal shopper I feel these colors would look best with your-" A bell rang at the front of the shop. "Excuse me." She bustled up to the front of the store.

"I need some robes." Said a voice. Harry's brows furrowed. Why did it seem so familiar?

"You came to the right place," said Madame Malkin. "But you'll have to wait. We're a little under- staffed and I'm the only one here."

"Fine." Said the male voice. Suddenly there was a shout from a small child.

"Daddy, I wanna leave!" Shrieked a toddler. 

"Not yet Raghnall!" Said the father. Harry moved so he could see who the speaker was, and choked on his spit.

Draco Malfoy. 

Madame Malkin was back in Harry's face again. "Now as I said, I picked these robes out for you

because I know they will match well with your skin tones and eyes and so on. Slip your old robe off sir, and then we can start."

Harry did as he was told without really listening to a word she was saying. He was enthralled with Malfoy at the moment. He was holding a little, pudgy boy's hand. The child's hair was platinum blonde and stuck to his face, making it almost look like a wig. He still looked innocent enough, but it was obvious from whom he was sired.

"What do you think of the maroon, Mr. Potter?" He heard Madame Malkin ask. Harry looked into the mirror.

"I don't like it much, actually, too pink."

"Okay, try the green."

"Okay." He shed off the maroon robes and pulled the green ones on. 

"DADDY!" Screamed the child, Raghnall. Harry snorted, remembering the name now. Had Malfoy realized he would be taunted for the rest of his life? It was the ugliest name Harry had ever heard. 

"What IS it son?" Draco asked peevishly.

"I WANT MOMMY!"

"Mommy isn't here." Draco spat. "She's at home with your sister. Now be quiet and play with your bear. You're going to create a scene." Draco suddenly looked up and met Harry's eyes. "Well, well, well. What have we got here?"

"Hello Malfoy. Yes, the green ones are good." Harry told Madame Malkin. "What are you doing

here?"

"Same thing as you." Draco snapped. "Buying robes."

"Uh-huh." Harry said. He tried on some blue robes. "I'll take two of those- and I wont bother with the black. I already know I'll need 3 of those."

"Well that's you done my dear." Madame Malkin said. "I'll hem them right now and then meet you at the cash register."

"Okay." Harry stepped off the measuring table and walked to the front of the store. Malfoy glared at him as Harry took out his money satchel. 

"I heard about you and the Weasley slut." Draco said acidly.

"Is that so?" Harry said, yawning. 

"Yes." Draco said. "I take by your tone that it's true then."

"It's true." Harry said.

"Daddy who's that?" Wondered the child.

"Shut up." Draco said. 

"That wasn't very fatherly." Harry said.

"Oh shove off." Draco said. "You don't know what it's like having kids so why don't you just shut

your hole?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know, it just seems mean. You could just tell him rationally, 'that's my

archenemy.' But then of course you aren't rational, are you?"

"Shut up before I attack you." Draco said. Harry rolled his eyes and looked at Madame Malkin as she approached. He paid her and was halfway out of the shop when he heard Malfoy's order. 

"I'll take 7 plain black robes and 4 black robes- with big hoods."

~*~

Evil. There is such a thing, no matter what anybody tells you. Wherever there is good, there is always evil. Sometimes it can be a little bit of both. A good thing in an evil something, or vice versa. Evil in its purest form is greed. Greed can be transformed into much more though. But evil always starts out in greed. Greed is everywhere, so there is also it's opposite running around. Charity. Charity will save us all, but greed transforms us into snakes that will strike at the heart, knowing that once the heart dies, the head and feet will soon loose life.

~*~

A/N: Now if you were Sherlock Holmes, you would have the mystery figured out by now. Here's a little tip for figuring it out. The random paragraphs are the key too the mystery. Have fun analyzing!

Love,

Tadariada

P.S. This chapter is dedicated to Isis because she was cool and wrote me a letter. J Isis, I'll bet you thought I forgot about my promise that I'd put you in an authors note, eh? I DIDN'T , so ha!

P.P.S. Okay Malena has been posting these chapters for me while I'm on a vacation. So why

don't we thank her by sending her some nice reviews on her stories…

You should also read SEEKER-2000's stories. Gone is awesome and so is

her new one, Desperate Times, Desperate Measures. Go read, review and enjoy!


	7. Crimes

Crimes. There are many of them. Larceny, rape, murder.  The list goes on to include so many awful things that people don't talk about them. Many crimes go un-noticed. Like when a person steals a necklace from a bargain store. Nobody notices. Nobody cares. But there are crimes that go un-noticed that shouldn't. Crimes that ruin a life. Crimes that stop one.

~*~

Harry sat up in his sleep. His eyes were wide open and his body was covered in sweat. He was shivering cold, but he didn't seem to noticed as he got out of bed and went to his wardrobe without a second thought. His hand grabbed some robes which he put on mechanically. 

"Ginny I have to see my father." He proclaimed. Ginny rolled over in her sleep.

"Right now?"

"Yes." Harry said. "It's important."  With that he disappeared.

~*~

"You'd better have a damn good reason for getting me up at 4:30 in the morning." James said. He was wearing an off-white dressing gown (A/N that's a robe, you nerds). There were bags under his eyes which looked tired and irritated. 

"He spoke." Harry said triumphantly.

James looked very much awake now.

"WHAT?!"

"You heard me." Harry said.

"He spoke." James said.

"Yes."

"He spoke?"

"Uh-huh."

"He Spoke!"

"YES!"

"What did he say?"

"Well he was talking with Voldemort about a special task or something. He refused to do it, I believe. All I remember is him saying 'I cant do that this week I'm going out of the country on business.'"

"What was his voice like?"

"It was definitely male. Low and British in accent. It seemed familiar, if that accounts for anything."

"It might, later…" James said, still writing. He looked up from his sticky note and into Harry's eyes for a moment. "You think hard about who your friends are and which of them seems the most likely to join- my God Harry! You're bleeding!"

"What?" Harry said, looking around himself.

"On your hand." James said. "How did that happen?"

Harry looked down. Sure enough, his left hand had a long, thin red line that was diagonal on the top of his hand. James pointed his wand at it and it clotted over.

"I don't remember it at all." Harry said. "Maybe when I opened the wardrobe it nicked me?" 

"You should be more careful!" James said.

"Look that doesn't matter right now." Harry said irritably. "What we need to work on is who Mr. Nobody is!"

"You're right." James said. "So lets go over this again. Red eyes, deep male voice."

"About your height."

James swallowed. "Yes. 6'0." 

"He could be anybody." Harry said. "But I just have the strangest feeling in my stomach…" Harry trailed off.

"Well?" James said, leaning forward on the kitchen table. "Do you have any ideas?"

_You, Harry thought, looking him in the eyes. "No, I cant think of a single person."_

_                                                                        ~*~_

"Harry we need to talk." Ginny said flatly when Harry entered the flat 10 seconds later.

"About what?" Harry said, flopping onto the couch and flicking on the radio. Ginny didn't look amused and flipped the radio off again.

"About _us." She said acidly. That got Harry's attention. He looked up suddenly into her eyes, fear and confusion playing behind them. _

"What about us?" Harry said, grabbing her hand.

She shook him off her. "It's just that- ugh, Harry stop looking at me like that."

"Ginny are you breaking-"

"Just shut-"

"You're breaking up with me?"

"I said be qui-"

"You can't just-"

"WOULD YOU KINDLY SHUT YOUR FACE FOR A SECOND?" Ginny said loudly. 

"But-"

"I'm SICK of this!" Ginny raged. "Why wont you EVER let me get a word in edge wise?"

"Why are you dumping me?"

Ginny made an angry noise in her throat, balled her hands into fists and disappeared without another word. Harry slumped into the sofa after she'd gone, wondering what he had done wrong.

~*~

The minutes felt like hours as Harry waited for Ginny to return home. He stayed rooted on the couch, listening to silence, staring at an empty white wall. He didn't understand. He didn't understand why she was mad. There was no reasonable explanation to soothe his mind. Unless she had been seeing somebody else-

"Ginny?" Hermione's voice cried. 2 seconds later Hermione popped into the kitchen, looking stricken. "Ginny are you here?"

"You just missed her." Harry said, swallowing a lump. Hermione jumped a bit and looked at him.

"Harry, what are you doing here?"

"This is my house." Harry said.

"Where's Ginny?"

"You tell me."  Harry said irritably, sitting up out of the couch and crossing his arms. "I think she just dumped me."

"WHAT?"

"Yeah, that's what I said and she stormed out of here saying something about me not letting her 'get a word in edge wise."'

Hermione looked uncomfortable. "You don't know then, do you?"

"Know what?" Harry said, his face falling. "It's not-"

"Oh Harry I'm not the person to tell you this." Hermione said, breaking eye contact.

"Tell me what?" Harry pleaded. "I deserve to know this sort of thing! I mean-"

"She came to me last week, sobbing and-"

"I'm her boyfriend and-"

"I did the best to get her to calm down but I-"

"- Should know if she's cheating on me."

"I shouldn't be here." Hermione said, looking torn. "Harry- " She reached out a hand and gripped his shoulder. "Hang in there, okay? Everything will wok out for the better." She disappeared, leaving Harry more confused than before.

Ginny did not return to the apartment that night.

~*~

((A/N: BRAIN FART! I have nooooooo idea what to write after this. Hmmmm…. *ponders silently for a while, trying to make her brain to forget about all the homework her teachers have given her* …well I guess the only thing left to do in this chapter is a dream and- a cliffhanger [kind of]))

~*~

            _"What are you doing here?" Came Voldemort's icy voice. The room was packed full of Death Eaters. More than Harry could ever recall seeing. Mr. Nobody shifted nervously in front of the dark lord and swallowed loudly before mumbling something. Voldemort laughed. "You didn't  go on your business trip because of THAT? You could have been helping us in the battle! Honestly… l idiot I should-" Voldemort raised his wand but thought better of it, "No. Next time I'll punish you."_

_            "My lord is most gracious." Said Mr. Nobody, bowing low. When he stood up again, Voldemort smacked him with the back of his hand. A skull shaped ring caught Mr. Nobody's skin and left a trail of red. _

_            "Maybe a scar will make you remember where your loyalties lie." He cackled._

~*~

Harry woke at that moment, due to a pain in his cheek. He sat up and felt it. Something wet smeared his face. Harry- thoroughly startled- jumped out of bed, flipped on a light and looked at his reflection in the mirror over the dressing table. There was no wound, but a slur of red lingered where one might have been. Harry leaned in to examine it closer. 

A hand closed over his mouth and grabbed his arms. Somebody put a wand against Harry's temple

"Don't move and I wont kill you," Said a low, deep voice.   


	8. Signs

A/N: So I'm listening to totally inappropriate writing music right now, again. "Do Wop" by Lauryn Hill. Not exactly suspense music. Blame Lauryn if the chapter isn't up to snuff, not me, okay?  
  
About all your predictions *puts on a creepy voice* I'll never te-ll! Oh yeah, and by the way kids, if you know the answer to the mystery, kindly send it to me via E-MAIL (Tadariada@aol.com) , instead of putting it in a review. You're giving off wrong ideas about my plot? Furthermore.HARRY? Oh, come on. that's just.wrong. And if it's Harry that's Mr. Nobody- who's attacking him now?  
  
HA HA HA!  
  
~Tad ~*~*~*~*~*  
  
  
  
  
  
Harry's mind raced. The two men holding him were bigger than Harry by far; he could see their silhouettes through the darkness. Harry didn't see how he was going to get out of this one. His wand was on his bed-stand table and so were his glasses. There was no way that he could get lucky this time. But Harry underestimated himself.  
  
Suddenly Harry's body rebelled. Something inside Harry told him to fight and so- he fought. He brought his leg around his captor's leg and knocked him to the floor. He then grabbed the wand the other man held in a blink of an eye. Harry held the wand at arm length and stepped back.  
  
The man who had been holding the wand lunged at Harry and as he tackled him, took his wand out of Harry's hand.  
  
"I warned you!" Growled the man. He put a hand over Harry's throat and said in a low, raspy voice: 'Avada Kedavra!'  
  
Time moved all too slow for Harry. He saw the curse in slow motion coming towards him and watched in horror as it- stopped. Well not stopped, it flew the other direction. Harry had blocked the curse. The wand was in Harry's hand somehow and the curse flew in the opposite direction.  
  
And hit the second man.  
  
The man who had been trying to kill Harry cursed loudly and walked over to the dead man. He gave him a good kick to determine if he was really dead and then the man disappeared, leaving his dead colleague and his wand behind with Harry.  
  
Harry got up shakily from the floor and walked over to the dead Death Eater. His eyes were wide open and proved them to be a disgusting pink color. Without a word Harry bent down and ripped the mask off. ~*~  
  
Ginny burst into the apartment late the next morning to find it swarming with people with brushes and yellow tape. Harry was sitting on the couch with a tall man who was taking notes with a Quick Quotes Quill.  
  
"Harry what is going on here?" She asked. Harry looked up, surprised and happy to see her, but with a pinched look on his face.  
  
"Two death eaters broke in last night and tried to kill me." Harry said and turned back to the man questioning him. "I had no idea who they were, as I was saying. That is until I-took the mask off and-" Harry's face twisted up more. "I know it's not my fault because I was defending myself but- I had no idea that it would be-"  
  
"Mr. Thomas has been missing for 6 months Mr. Potter. We knew he would either be dead or converted. I would have preferred dead.."  
  
"Mr. Thomas!" Ginny screeched. "Not-"  
  
"Dean." Harry moaned and held his head in his hands. "I killed him. But I didn't know it was him and-"  
  
Ginny flew to him so fast it was startling. "Harry it's not your fault." She cooed. Harry moved away from her a bit. She stood up, feeling the rejection. "Fine. Well, I have to talk to you sometime today. So meet me tonight at Puissance, the restaurant in Diagon Alley. I have reservations at 8:00 so done be late and dress up. Now, I've got things to see and people to do- wait.I said that wrong."  
  
"Puissance at 8:00." Harry said, turning this over in his mind. "Why?"  
  
"We need to have a serious conversation about this relationship."  
  
Harry swallowed. Ginny disappeared with a final call of "Be late and die!"  
  
"Good luck to you, sir." Said the man interviewing Harry. "It seems you are having the most cursed of days."  
  
"Why do you say that?"  
  
"It's common knowledge. When a woman wants to talk about relationships at Puissance, she doesn't usually mean well." Said the man and let out a low, sorrowful whistle.  
  
~*~  
  
Harry was pre-occupied that night. Ginny was late to the dinner spot, which was for the better because Harry thought he might be sick with the events of the day. Dean's red eyes kept flashing through his mind. He pulled on a waitress's shirt cuff and asked for another glass of water. She nodded and left. When Harry looked back at the table Ginny was sitting there, extremely dressed up.  
  
"You look.." Harry said nervously, not wanting to give off any wrong vibes.  
  
"Uh.you-"  
  
"What would you like to drink ma'am?" Said the waitress, seeing Ginny.  
  
"A martini with two olives-" Ginny started.  
  
"Shaken, not stirred." Harry chimed in with her. Ginny looked at him oddly.  
  
"Look Harry, don't start with me." Ginny said. Harry's face fell. "I've been doing a lot of thinking recently. Stuff has been happening with us, and mostly you, and it hasn't been very good."  
  
"If this is about Mr. Nobody, I think I killed him this morning!" Harry said. "There's not going to be any more of that ever again, I swear to you. I just want you to come home. Will you? Or are you breaking up with me? Please be quick, I don't want to sit through this if it's just going to make this day worse."  
  
"That's not what we came here to talk about." Ginny snapped. "Come on Harry, you can't say you haven't noticed anything different."  
  
She leaned in on the table, nearly knocking Harry's wine glass over.  
  
"Well.no.." Harry said. "I know I've been gone for work a lot but, if that's a problem I can try to get out of practices earlier. We can go out more on weekends. We can spend more time together and- "  
  
"Jesus Harry, would you grow a brain?" Ginny said, leaning back suddenly in her chair and crossing her arms.  
  
"What?" Harry said, offended. The color in Ginny's face rose as she prepared herself to speak. Her mouth formed words but no sounds came out. "What is it? What else do you want to insult me about? I've had a rough day! I did not come here to be taunted by my girlfriend!"  
  
"You want to know why we're actually here, Harry? I needed to tell you that I'm pregnant! Okay? There I've said it, I'm pregnant!" Ginny cried. The entire restaurant silenced. Harry gaped.  
  
"No- it's not possible. You're on the pill and- what? No- it can't." He began to stammer.  
  
"Oh it's possible." Ginny said, looking wickedly amused. "It's possible and it happened. And it is yours, just incase you were wondering. Hermione told me what you said."  
  
"What are we going to do?" Harry said, looking greener than before. "I mean, we can't get rid of it can we?"  
  
"I'd rather not." Ginny said quickly. "Look Harry, when we started doing- this- we said that if anything happened we would stay together."  
  
"I remember that."  
  
"So you're agreed?"  
  
"Yes." Harry said and added shyly, " When is it due?"  
  
"We've got 7 months." Ginny said. "So we need to start thinking about our future Harry."  
  
"You're right we do."  
  
"Well no matter what, we're together, right?" She said, putting on a brave face. "For better and for worse?"  
  
"I sup-" Harry said. What made Harry stop talking was the fact that she had moved down onto one knee. Ginny took a deep breath and swallowed hard.  
  
"Harry, I know you love me, and I do love you." Ginny said. "I know it's not a coincidence that we're here, together, in this life. In this love." She looked up at him and his eyes bulged. From behind her she pulled out a little box. "And in light of everything that has happened, I know we will be together forever. So there's only one question left, really. Harry will you marry me?"  
  
She opened the box to reveal a ring, a golden band with a diamond on it. Harry made a face, but decided to dismiss the thought for the moment.  
  
"Uh Ginny, I don't know what to say.." Harry said, getting down on the floor with her. He felt like an idiot.  
  
"Well say yes!" She cried.  
  
"Yes!" Harry said. She looked relieved for a fraction of a second before crushing her lips on his.  
  
When she broke away from Harry she said, "Well that's more like it. Now slide that ring on my finger!" Harry laughed and looked at her oddly. "You didn't think it was for you, did you?" ~*~  
  
Signs. There is always a sign in our lives that tells us just when something awful is going to happen. When you're riding down the highway of life you will not see a sign that says 'Heartache City- 47 minutes'. it's never that obvious. A sign will creep up on you and not show its face, but only make your stomach churn and chills crawl up your back. And if you don't read the signs along the highway of life, that is a sure sign you are going to disaster and you are not coming back.  
  
  
  
~*~ A/N: I had planned for this chapter to be like 2 times longer, but now that I've hit the 5 page mark, I've decided there's nothing else I can cram into this chapter. Sorry if it was terribly rushed. Anyways, please write me a nice review with your views on what you should happen next. I cant say it'll happen, but I'm exceedingly bored right now.  
  
And remember, if you know the mystery DON'T WRITE ABOUT IT! I don't want anybody to get their bubble busted. Plus, as I said, you're going to wind everybody up for something that isn't going to happen. Write me an e-mail with it, please! I mean, that way you'll even get feedback. Maybe I'll even dedicate a chapter to you.  
  
Oh yeah. This is not the last chapter. 


	9. Confrontation

A/N: I'm a busy person. So shoot me. Sorry I haven't been getting stories updated, but I'm trying I swear. I just have so much to do and so little time to do it. I'm straining my mind for more random paragraphs. Have you linked them all together? They tell a story.*cackle*.  
  
Also, this chapter is dedicated to Erieka127, who, oh-so-sweetly, reminded me that it'd been about- oh 4 months since I posted. Kudos to you!  
  
~*~  
  
Harry bumped her and made a noise. Ginny, who was half asleep, jolted to full consciousness and looked at the man next to her. His face was scrunched up in pain and his arms were tensed. He groaned loudly again and moved over a little bit, exposing an arm which was bleeding freely. Ginny took a deep breath.  
  
"Harry wake up." She said firmly. He didn't seem to hear, he was so wrapped up in his dreaming. "Harry! Wake up!" She laid a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"NO!" Harry grabbed her hand and tackled her, moving from lying down to pinning her with arms wrapped around her neck in a split second. Only then did he wake up, looking horrified. He quickly got off of her and began to breathe heavily.  
  
"What." Ginny said. "What was that all about?"  
  
"I.was dreaming again." Harry said holding his knees. He put his head in the middle of his knees, the look of fear and pain still on his face. "I'm sorry that I." He trailed off.  
  
"You're bleeding, Harry." Ginny said, swallowing hard. Her heart was fluttering from the display of unexpected violence. She looked at Harry. He looked like he was going to vomit. Even in the dark she could tell that he felt sick.  
  
"I- I know." He said, looking at his arm. "I'll tend it. You just.you go to sleep."  
  
"Why are you bleeding?" Ginny said, not moving at all.  
  
"I've- uh.well. I don't really know." Harry said.  
  
"Maybe you should see somebody about that." Ginny said reasonably. "I mean maybe Dumbledore could-"  
  
"No! Not Dumbledore.." Harry said, getting up and walking out of the door. "Not Dumbledore."  
  
She watched him as he wrapped gauze around his upper arm through the glass bedroom doors. He was sitting on the couch and when he finished he rolled over it into a lying position and clapped off the lights.  
  
After a few minutes of silent darkness, Ginny worked up her nerve and said, "Harry cant you tell me what's happening? Why don't you come back to bed?"  
  
There was no reply.  
  
~* ~* ~* ~*  
  
"Hello Professor." Ginny said, settling comfortably into one of the chairs in Dumbledore's office.  
  
"Yes, Hello Ms. Weasley." Dumbledore said. "How are you doing these days?"  
  
"I'm as fine as can be expected." Ginny said.  
  
"So what brings you here?"  
  
"Well." Ginny blushed deeply. "It's Harry."  
  
"What about him?" Dumbledore said, stroking his long beard.  
  
"Well it's just." Ginny thought of how to phrase the next sentence for a long time. "Harry. He's been acting- strange."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"He's being mysterious about everything. He wakes up from these dreams he has with huge castrating wounds. And he's violent. He's been working with James, did you know?" Ginny said.  
  
Dumbledore looked fully awake now. "No, I wasn't aware."  
  
"Yes, something very secretive of course." Ginny spat. "Harry's never home because of it. They're tracking down some death eater. It's insane. They will never find a masked man barely ever speaks."  
  
"A death eater?" Dumbledore began to write the conversation down with a purple quill. "Please go on Ginny."  
  
"Well Harry's involved because he sees this Death Eater in his dreams. He usually doesn't talk, but lately he has been and well Harry's freaked out all the time. And when he wakes up he's bleeding. Do you have any idea how that's happening?"  
  
Dumbledore dismissed the question. "Tell me the whole story first. The whole story from beginning," he looked up at her and met her eyes, "to end."  
  
~*~*~*~*  
  
"He killed 5 people last night." Harry said, biting his lip and tightening his grip around his mug of tea. James swallowed.  
  
"Which 5?"  
  
"I don't know their names." Harry said. "I just saw them die. Their bodies are.they are-" Harry choked on the words. "I don't think I can do this any more."  
  
"Come on Harry, we're almost there." James said, grabbing his shoulder and shaking him. "And just because you don't want to do this any more, doesn't mean that you wont get the dreams. Now, where are the bodies?"  
  
"In-" Harry turned very green and swallowed very hard. "They're in 25 dumpsters scattered around Hogsmeade."  
  
James' eyes widened. "He did a good job of it then."  
  
Harry just shook his head.  
  
Suddenly Ginny appeared in the apartment. She looked around stealthily before sneaking into the bedroom. James looked at Harry quizzically. Harry shrugged and walked over to the bedroom. Ginny was looking in Harry's wardrobe with a strange look on her face. Harry narrowed his eyes and walked up to her. Her back was to him, conveniently and he wrapped his arms around her.  
  
"What are you doing Ginny?" He said more harshly than intended. She screamed and turned around.  
  
"I- I didn't know you were home and-"  
  
"What are you looking for Ginny?" Harry said dryly.  
  
She turned out of his startling embrace and looked at him. "Dumbledore wants to see you right away. It's about Mr. Nobody."  
  
"You went to Dumbledore?" Harry said, his neck getting tense.  
  
"He knows who Mr. Nobody is."  
  
"How did- but- who- how?"  
  
"I don't know, but he says he has to see you alone, because the information is dangerous."  
  
"Did he tell you who it is?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Did he tell you anything?" Harry looked desperate.  
  
"No."  
  
"Oh-"  
  
"Well he did say something like 'we've had problems with him before.'"  
  
"Thank you Ginny. Get out of my house James." He disappeared.  
  
"Why does he get to go? It's my assignment." James said. "It's no fair.he always get special treatment."  
  
Ginny rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen.  
  
~*~  
  
"How do you know who he is?" Harry said, forgetting friendly pretense.  
  
"It's obvious." Dumbledore said, sitting forward in his chair. His right hand held his wand under his desk.  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Listen first. Ginny came to me in a panic. She said you were violent when you woke up a few nights ago, that you were in some sort of trance almost."  
  
"She startled me. I don't really respond well to people grabbing me when I'm sleeping. Do you?"  
  
"No need to be defensive." Dumbledore said. "She also said your arm had a huge cut on it."  
  
"I don't know how it got there." Harry said. "Isn't that some syndrome when you're stressed out, your dreams start coming true?"  
  
Dumbledore mumbled, "Funny you should say that."  
  
"What?" Harry snapped.  
  
"Harry, it's all very suspicious. You have dreams, almost weekly, about death eater meetings, you wake up with wounds.you leave the apartment in the middle of the night."  
  
Harry had been nodding when Dumbledore said something he agreed with, but stopped abruptly at the last statement. "What?"  
  
"Ginny said she's waken up more than once at midnight to find you've left the apartment."  
  
"I don't understand. She must have been dreaming."  
  
"No, I have complete faith in her words."  
  
"Professor, stop beating around the bush. Just say what you want."  
  
"Harry, you are Mr. Nobody." Dumbledore said.  
  
"You're wrong!" Harry yelled, standing up abruptly and knocking his chair over.  
  
"Harry calm down. It's okay, I've called the ministry already, they know-"  
  
"I've been framed!" Harry yelled, looking around madly. "They're going to put me in Azkaban and-"  
  
"HARRY!" Dumbledore commanded. Harry quieted. "You obviously weren't doing this consciously. It started at midnight, you would feel your old dark mark burn and you would wake up in a trance and go to the meet-"  
  
"No! You're wrong!" Harry said, grabbing his coat. "You're wrong!"  
  
"You've been dreading this, haven't you? Somewhere, deep down, you knew who it was." Dumbledore said. "Ginny mentioned you were jumpy- this is the very reason! You are Mr.-"  
  
"I've been framed!" Harry moaned and sat on the corner of Dumbledore's desk. "What am I going to do?"  
  
"Well the ministry should be here an second to take you in for-"  
  
"YOU CALLED THE MINISTRY?" Harry cried. "No, no, no! Wake up, Harry! Wake up!"  
  
"Don't you see Harry, you are awake!"  
  
"Let me alone!" Harry said, standing up and throwing his cloak on. He was almost to the door when it burst open.  
  
"Department of Crime! Put your wands down!" A ministry official yelled, holding up a badge.  
  
~*~  
  
Confrontation. It is a necessary, but ugly thing to do. Nobody likes real confrontation. It means something has happened that wasn't planned. Confrontation can mean war, confrontation can mean the end of a friendship. Confrontation can mean the end of life. Or the beginning. 


End file.
